Indian Rape Victim Dies in Singapore Hospital

The Indian student brutally gang-raped earlier this month on a bus in New Delhi has died in a Singapore hospital.

A statement from the Hospital said the 23-year-old woman “died peacefully” early Saturday.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he is “deeply saddened” by the young woman's death. He said the emotions the case has generated are “perfectly understandable.”

The woman's body is scheduled to be flown back to India Saturday.

New Delhi has been rocked by mass protests since the brutal attack. New Delhi officials say they are bracing for more demonstrations following the woman's death.

The woman is reported to have been traveling with a male companion on a charter bus in the Indian capital December 16 when a group of six men onboard beat them both with an iron rod. The woman was raped repeatedly. Reports say a rod was used in the rape, causing some of her internal injuries. She also suffered brain injuries. The woman and her friend were thrown from the moving bus.

The male friend survived the attack. Neither the woman nor her friend have been identified.

Police arrested six suspects who have been accused of rape and are now facing murder charges.

The woman was airlifted to Singapore from a New Delhi hospital Wednesday, a move that drew criticism from medical experts in India.

A member of the Indian team who cared for her, Dr. Mahesh Chandra Misra with All India Institute of Medical Sciences, told The New York Times that the woman's injuries were severe and that she was “practically dead” when she was brought into Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi.

The government on Wednesday announced a commission that will review police response to the attack, while another panel is tasked with suggesting ways to make the capital safer for women as well as changes to the law to create stiffer penalties for such crimes.